Kotaku today highlighted a new third-party Switch controller called the Faceoff Deluxe+ from PDP. It has — gasp — a headphone jack, a feature formerly exclusive to the Switch tablet itself. That caught my attention, because up to now the only time I’ve used headphones with my Switch was when it was in handheld mode. And this lack of a headphone jack isn’t just an imposition to listeners — it’s also an indicator of how bizarre the voice chat system is on the Switch. The console has been on the market for over two years now — it’s the big winner in Nintendo’s stable, and it also still relies on its companion app for in-game voice chat. It’s always been one of the most baffling things about the otherwise exemplary console, at least to me. I don’t want to play games with a phone pressed to my ear — I’m trying to relax and have fun, not perform middle management office work. As for the Faceoff itself, it’s kind of hampered by the fact that it’s wired. Have you seen the USB port on the Switch? It’s on the back of the dang console. But still, if the headphone jack and voice chat are things you miss while playing with your Switch in console mode, then it’s at least an option. You can find the controllers on PDP’s website here.
